It's been exactly four years now since that faithful day in March when The End Records announced Virgin Black would be releasing the Requiem trilogy, featuring the classical instrumentation performed by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Actually, I wasn't really aware of the existence of Virgin Black until the release of Requiem - Mezzo Forte. But holy mother of hell, did that album totally rocked my world. Yeah, guilty, I'm a sucker for violin and piano elements crossbreeding with heavy metal arrangements.

The following year the band released the much heavier, and also doom-ier, Requiem - Fortissimo. But the first installment of the trilogy, Requiem - Pianissimo, never saw the light of day, and until this very instant doesn't even have an official release date. The entire internet doesn't have any more information than that, simply because there isn't any.

So, uh... what gives?

There's a huge segment of the metal minded population that is getting a little tired of waiting. I, for one, am a part of that segment. Seriously, even pleasing a really really fat chick shouldn't take this long.

So I did some investigation and it sure seems like the band vanished from the world. Disappeared without a trace. Their official homepage is down. No word on the website of The End Records. The MySpace page hasn't been updated since the band won a Metal Storm Award in 2008...

What happened? Did the band melt their golden MS Award, cashed in and took off direction Bermuda Islands? Did mastermind Rowan London fell into some hole or something? Should we get worried and start an organized search operation? Is the band going all Chinese Democracy on us?

Ahh, the joys of a mystery case.

There's a glimmer of hope tough. At the beginning of November last year, the person who operates the band's Facebook page, announced there would be "some news about the release of Pianissimo very soon". But my meticulous calculations show that November is already quite some time ago. Or I seem to have a different definition of "very soon".

Good things come to those who wait, right? Right?

Anyone having further information on the whereabouts of Virgin Black should contact the Metal Officer of your local police station, Interpol or MS Special Agent Thryce.

Thryce, if only you had asked earlier! I happen to know that the band is hiding in the basement of a well known musician. I can't give away the name, but it starts with Jari and ends with Maenpaa. They seem to just be waiting for the right Time to release it.

Well... Mandragora Scream also released "Madhouse" although several people were already thinking they were disbanded... Meanwhile the band has even released another album whereas their official homepage still displays the information of year 2006...

It's funny, because all three albums were suposed to be realised the same year, and that was 2006. And I've said it many times now, it's Samantha Escarbe AND Rowan London the masterminds of this band, not just London. Both of them compose everything, it's not like with Lacrimosa whereas Tilo composes almost all the songs of an album and Anne just a couple. Here Escarbe and London work together, ALWAYS.

Haha. yeah, these days..the words 'very soon' can mean anytime between when the facebook post was made all the way till August.lol. Don't give up hope yet the window of news about the release of Pianissimo has not yet closed..lol

Just to illuminate the situation a bit, when i talked to Samantha in 2007 shortly after the release of Mezzo Forte, she told me that all three albums were finished and in the hands of The End. the band had intended to release the trilogy as a 3-disc set, but The End balked, and balked again at releasing the albums in order, choosing to go with the album "most similar" to their previous output.

so the ball is and has always been in The End's court. and they've seriously dropped the ball.

things have been pretty rocky with The End the last few years, and the longer it takes them to release Pianissimo (or even acknowledge it's existence), the more i feel uneasy that it will ever be released. at least by The End anyway. i for one would personally finance the release of Pianissimo, if it came to it.

this band means more to me than i could ever express, and this wait has been nearly unbearable.:-[

Ahh politics. Kind of heart breaking. If the music has been recorded then the hard part is over, yeah? No. I hate the politics of the industry sometimes. BUT an update from the band would be nice. HI WE'RE ALIVE etc

Just to illuminate the situation a bit, when i talked to Samantha in 2007 shortly after the release of Mezzo Forte, she told me that all three albums were finished and in the hands of The End. the band had intended to release the trilogy as a 3-disc set, but The End balked, and balked again at releasing the albums in order, choosing to go with the album "most similar" to their previous output.

so the ball is and has always been in The End's court. and they've seriously dropped the ball.:-[

I had sent The End Record a rather mean message about this on myspace. This was my reply back;
"Hey dude,
We haven't postponed anything as we've never set a release date. We're still waiting on all of the components from the band so the ball is still in their court. If you really want to pressure anyone, hit them up. We're just as excited as everyone else to get this out.
Besides, we're not a major label. Why would we sit on a release once it's ready to go? That just makes no sense unless there is a very specific reason for it i.e. to coincide with a tour. In this case, we have no reason to delay it.
Billy"

Praemorior also said on here, "Just to illuminate the situation a bit, when i talked to Samantha in 2007 shortly after the release of Mezzo Forte, she told me that all three albums were finished and in the hands of The End."

Either The End lost it, tossed it, or they never got it. Still a real disappointment. Mezzo Forte is my favorite to date, but I was looking forward to Pianissimo the most.

Just saw on facebook the band said on August 22,
"The band is still alive Facundo! They understand the frustration about Pianissimo, but promise it will be released in time. Until then, hopefully you are still enjoying Virgin Black's other releases as much as ever."

At this point? Probably not even the band. Their Facebook page is just a bunch of status updates about how thankful they are for having so many supportive fans and all that crap. At one point they mentioned possibly writing new music this year but that obviously hasn't happened.